Plan your trip · Dwarka

What's on in Dwarka

Q: What is the biggest festival in Dwarka?

Janmashtami, Krishna's birthday, is the most important festival in Dwarka. Pilgrims gather at the Dwarkadhish Temple for the midnight celebration of his birth, and the town is at its busiest.

Upcoming festivals, fairs and events in Dwarka — plan your visit around them, then check the best time to visit.

Nothing dated is confirmed for Dwarka right now, so here is the year instead — the fixtures that come round annually, and what each one means for a visit.

The year in Dwarka

Dwarka's calendar works around the monsoon — the big outdoor events sit either side of it, and the wettest weeks are the quietest ones for anything held in the open. Broadly, Oct – Mar is when visiting is most comfortable here, and that is when the calendar is busiest — which also means accommodation is most expensive and books furthest ahead.

Most of these follow lunar calendars and move by weeks from year to year, so treat the windows below as the season rather than the date, and confirm the year’s dates before you book around one.

Signature to Dwarka

Janmashtami

🗓️ August–September

Krishna's birth at the temple that claims his kingdom — the year's peak by a distance.

Planning: Combine with Bet Dwarka, now reached by the Sudarshan Setu bridge — the crossing gets very busy on festival days.

Across Gujarat

Navratri garba

🗓️ September–October

Nine nights of garba and dandiya, from neighbourhood squares to grounds holding thousands. Gujarat does this more seriously than anywhere else.

Planning: Large venues ticket in advance; the state is dry, so do not expect a bar.

Uttarayan kite festival

🗓️ 14–15 January

Gujarat takes to its rooftops to fly kites for two days straight — most intensely in the old quarters of Ahmedabad and Vadodara.

Planning: Coated kite string injures people on two-wheelers every year — avoid riding on those days.

Nationwide

Diwali

🗓️ October–November

The biggest holiday of the year — lamps, sweets, fireworks and a week of visiting family. Cities are lit up and markets stay open late.

Holi

🗓️ March

Coloured powder and water, thrown at anyone within reach, mostly through the morning.

Navratri and Dussehra

🗓️ September–October

Nine nights of fasting, music and dance, ending with Dussehra. What it looks like changes completely by region — garba in Gujarat, pandals in Bengal, processions in the south.

Eid al-Fitr

🗓️ shifts ~11 days earlier each year

The end of Ramadan. The old quarters of Delhi, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Bhopal are at their best in the evenings through the preceding month, when food streets run past midnight.

Makar Sankranti and Pongal

🗓️ mid-January

The harvest turn, marked with kites in the west and north and four days of Pongal in Tamil Nadu.

Dwarka's calendar follows Krishna. The biggest event of the year is Janmashtami, in August or September, when the Dwarkadhish Temple celebrates Krishna's birth at midnight and the town fills with pilgrims, bhajans and dahi handi, where a boy dressed as Krishna climbs a human pyramid to break a pot of butter. The temple also celebrates Holi and Dhuleti, the Rath Yatra, Diwali, and Annakut on the Gujarati New Year, when hundreds of sweets and dishes are offered to the deity.

Shiva's big night is Mahashivratri, in February or March, when devotees crowd Nageshwar Jyotirlinga and Bhadkeshwar Mahadev, and Navratri brings nine nights of garba across Gujarat. Most of these festivals follow the Hindu lunar calendar, so the dates move each year. Check them before you book, and plan well ahead if you want to be here for Janmashtami.

Tips for Attending Events & Festivals in Dwarka

Book rooms and trains early for Janmashtami; special trains often run, but they fill up.
Expect long queues and changed darshan timings on festival days.
Leave your phone where you are staying or at the deposit counter, as phones are not allowed inside the Dwarkadhish Temple.
Keep children close and agree on a meeting point in case you get separated.
Carry water and dress for heat and humidity during the August and September festivals.
Stay well back from the water at Gomti Ghat when the crowds are heavy or the sea is rough.
Keep your valuables in a zipped bag in crowded areas.

Questions

Dwarka — FAQ

What is the biggest festival in Dwarka?

Janmashtami, Krishna's birthday, is the most important festival in Dwarka. Pilgrims gather at the Dwarkadhish Temple for the midnight celebration of his birth, and the town is at its busiest.

How is Janmashtami celebrated at the Dwarkadhish Temple?

The day follows Krishna's daily routine, with the morning aarti, a ritual bath in panchamrut (milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar) and the decoration of the deity. At midnight, the moment of his birth is greeted with the chant 'Nand Gher Anand Bhayo', and the celebrations go on late into the night.

What is Annakut at the Dwarkadhish Temple?

Annakut is the offering made on the Gujarati New Year, the day after Diwali, when hundreds of sweets and other dishes are placed before the deity. It usually falls in October or November.

When is Mahashivratri at Nageshwar Jyotirlinga?

Mahashivratri falls in February or March, on a date set by the Hindu calendar, and it is the biggest day of the year at Nageshwar. Expect long queues, and check the date for the year before you plan your trip.